Valkyria Chronicles Eyes-on

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Warring in watercolor.

By Ryan Clements

SEGA had a bunch of games on display at its recent press event this week, but we were especially eager to check out the tactical RPG from SEGA Game Studios Japan, Valkyria Chronicles. Although we weren't able to get any play time with the title, we were treated to a demo by one of the game's US producers, Christopher Kaminski, which not only touched on the game's opening moments and tutorial mission, but also featured a battle later in the campaign. The version on display was Japanese, but we were told that it was a completely finished build before the demo began.

In case you haven't kept up with the title previously, Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical RPG that mixes strategy gameplay with real-time combat. Set in an alternative version of 1930's Europe, Valkyria Chronicles follows the conflict waging between the Eastern Empire and the Atlantic Federation, who have, as Kaminski told us, incompatible views on how to unite Europe under one banner. Apparently, the real heart of the conflict centers around the small country of Gallia, which holds a rich abundance of Ragnite. This resource is critical to the war at hand and can be used for a variety of purposes, like powering machines and even being harnessed for medicinal use.

A proud soldier.

From what we've been told in the past, you'll be controlling a platoon on the Federation's side and fighting against the Empire. Although this story may seem like somewhat typical RPG fare, we can assure you that the presentation of the plot seems quite unique in Valkyria Chronicles. The game walks the line between fantasy and reality, pulling a lot of early 20th Century warfare aesthetics into the mix while still flaunting a whimsical anime influence. We were definitely intrigued.

The real beauty of the game, however, comes from the artistic style. As we reported previously, Valkyria Chronicles is powered by the CANVAS Engine, which looks like a beautiful cross between 3D anime character models and a watercolor painting. We were extremely impressed with how the game looked and the amount of detail present in the characters is truly admirable.

Here comes the tank.

Valkyria Chronicles is organized entirely through a book, where both story segments and battles are pictured on the pages along with bits of text. When the demo finally started, we watched as the opening cutscene played out in an admittedly classy fashion. A Japanese narration, serious in tone, played over images of great struggle and war. These scenes faded in and out as the camera panned across an old-fashioned, intricately drawn map. A lot of the imagery in this opening cutscene was powerful, including a shot of a legion of dark knights with what appear to be jousting lances. Later in the cutscene, these lances actually turn out to be rocket launchers that are used to penetrate tank armor. Sweet.

As Kaminski started the first battle, we got to see Valkyria Chronicles' BLiTZ Battle System at work. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, Valkyria Chronicles features both strategy gameplay and a sort of real-time sequence. After you select what soldiers you'll bring into battle, a stylish map of the battlefield comes into view with various readouts dotting the sides of the screen. You have a set number of command points that can be spent to move one character of your platoon at a time. What's really fantastic is the moment you opt to move a unit on the map. As soon as you do so, the map seamlessly transforms into a fully rendered environment and the camera drops down from the sky to rest behind your character. You can than move around in real-time (though only your character is currently moving) and you can navigate the environment manually to set up strategies.